What Is ZenBusiness?
ZenBusiness is an online provider of business registration and other services needed to launch a side hustle or small business. ZenBusiness is a popular choice when launching a business as an LLC. It offers a plethora of services designed to get your business off the ground without having to use another provider for each service that new businesses need.
This is invaluable as new businesses all need to register their business, create a website and take care of their finances from banking to taxes. ZenBusiness makes it easy for businesses to handle all of this under one umbrella. This can save businesses time and money, though some of the service offerings are lacking compared to other providers that specialize in those areas.
Pros
- Affordable: It’s tough to beat ZenBusiness’ price for registering an LLC, as it can start at $0 plus the filing fees for your state. Its plans for other services are affordable as well, such as $5 per month for business banking and free tax savings consultations. All packages also come standard with the company’s “Worry-free” compliance services that includes annual report filings and up to two business amendments per year, among other things.
- Customer support: ZenBusiness offers extended customer support hours. You can contact support from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. (CT) on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. (CT) on Sundays.
- Strong customer reviews: ZenBusiness’ reviews are some of the best we’ve seen. It’s difficult to find negative reviews as its customers enjoy the value they are getting.
Cons
- Registered agent not included: The registered agent offering is included with many competitors, at least for one full year, but it isn’t with ZenBusiness. This could cost you a bit more if you’re looking for this right from the start.
- EIN service: EIN is included with the company’s Pro and Premium packages, but does not come standard with the entry level plan.
- Online business services: The additional services that ZenBusiness doesn’t focus on, such as creating a website, come up short. Other providers that specialize just in creating websites, or other services, have more robust offerings.
Featured Partners
1
ZenBusiness
$0 + State Fees
Varies By State & Package
2
LegalZoom
$0 + State Fees
Varies By State & Package
3
Northwest Registered Agent
$39 + State Fees
Varies By State & Package
How ZenBusiness Works
ZenBusiness tops our best LLC filing services list for multiple reasons, including its affordability, ease of use and its unique offerings. The company offers three plans to help you form your business, whether that’s an LLC or corporation. Plans start at $0 for an LLC or range from $199 to $349 per year, plus state filing fees, for other services.
ZenBusiness Services
As previously mentioned, ZenBusiness offers quite possibly the largest range of services for all registered providers. It offers many services important to those looking to register their business as well as additional services important to running your business. Here are the business registration service options available:
- Business formation (LLC, corporation, etc.)
- Name reservation service (includes name availability search)
- “Worry-free” compliance service
- Operating agreements
- Registered agent services
- EIN registration
- Business document templates library
- Faster filing speeds
- Business license reports
- Amendment filings
- Certificates of good standing
Here is a little more detail about the major business formation services that ZenBusiness provides.
Name Availability Search
When forming your business, you’ll need to choose a name that is unique in the state that you’re registering. This is a way to identify your business when it transacts with consumers or other businesses. You can register a separate name to transact business other than your legal name if you wish. ZenBusiness will conduct a search in your state to see if your desired name is available and reserve that name on your behalf.
Business Formation Service
Whether you’re forming an LLC or a corporation, ZenBusiness offers services to help you. This is the bread and butter of the company and it is very good at the ins and outs of business formation. Incorporating your business, in particular, can be time-consuming if you don’t understand the process. You can utilize the expertise of ZenBusiness to make sure everything is done correctly.
Registered Agent Services
While not included with the basic formation service, ZenBusiness does offer registered agent services. The company will interact with the state on your behalf and handle all legal notices that come your way, making sure that they are dealt with in a timely manner. Everything is communicated to you and kept confidential.
Online Document Access
ZenBusiness provides easy access to all of your business formation documents, as they are available. If you are using it as your registered agent, then any legal documents will also be available to be accessed online. Plus, the company offers a business document templates library for a fee that you can use, available online, to run your business.
Articles of Organization
When registering an LLC, you need to create your articles of organization document, which serves as the details behind the ownership and creation of the company. Many states require this for your LLC to be properly registered with the state, so it’s good to have an expert creating it for you.
Business Operation Services
In addition to business formation-related services, ZenBusiness also provides a number of services tailored to running your small business. Among them is a streamlined website builder. While it might not have as many features as dedicated builders like Squarespace or Wix, we appreciate that they offer businesses the ability to build a web presence. Here are the additional services that ZenBusiness offers:
- Domain name registration
- Domain name privacy
- Business email addresses
- Business website creation
- Business banking
- Online payments
- Tax savings consultation
ZenBusiness Pricing and Plans
Starter
Starting at $0 for the filing year, plus state filing fees, ZenBusiness will file your LLC formation documents for you—all you have to do is fill out the forms online. This plan doesn’t include any extra speediness for filing, so you can expect the turnaround to be a little slower—typically two to three weeks (but this is mostly based on state delays).
ZenBusiness can serve as your registered agent, but it will cost you $199 per year to add on the service. If you use ZenBusiness as your registered agent, all legal documents will go to ZenBusiness, and the company forwards legal notices to you. The included Worry-Free Compliance service notifies you of upcoming compliance and filing events, plus your annual report and up to two business amendment filings per year.
Pro
ZenBusiness’ Pro plan costs $199 per year, plus state filing fees, and it includes everything in the Starter plan with a few extras. You’ll get the fastest rush filing for your business, which prioritizes your business formation documents over others with only standard filing speed. This plan also includes the preparation and filing of EIN documents, so you can quickly get your tax ID number. It also covers your annual report and up to two business amendment filings per year.
Premium
The Premium plan from ZenBusiness is $349 per year, and it includes everything in the two lower-priced plans. It comes with the same filing speed as the Pro plan, so you can trust that your filings are being prioritized ahead of others in line, dropping the time from filing to incorporation by weeks, potentially. ZenBusiness also offers you a business domain, website, email and hosting with this package. Users of the Premium plan get access to the company’s business document template’s library as well.
Add-Ons
Regardless of which ZenBusiness plan you choose, you have the option to add on a service you need, including expedited or rush filing, EIN filing, compliance service and website services. These are all reasonably priced, but you’re paying for the convenience of help filling out and filing forms, and for bundling services. Filing for an EIN is free otherwise.
Here are ZenBusiness’ add-on costs (annually or one-time):
- Registered agent: $199
- Rush filing speed: $79 (one-time)
- EIN filing: $99 (one-time)
- Operating agreement: $99 (one-time)
- Compliance service: $199
- Business website: $129
- Domain name: $25
- Business email: $25
- Business banking: $5 per month
- Business name reservation: $50 (one-time)
- Money Pro bookkeeping: $30 per month
Getting Started With ZenBusiness
It isn’t difficult to get started with ZenBusiness. If you’re looking to register your LLC, then fill out some basic information online and be ready to go within a few minutes. You’ll need to make sure you know what you would like to name your business and all the details regarding your legal address and the personal information for all business owners.
ZenBusiness Customer Service and Support
All of ZenBusiness’ customers get access to phone, email and live chat support. In addition to ZenBusiness’ reviews being some of the best out there (it’s hard to find a negative review), it offers extended customer support hours. You can contact support from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. (CT) on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. (CT) on Sundays.
Another unique offer from ZenBusiness is its 60-day money-back guarantee. If you aren’t happy with your plan, you can request a refund within 60 days and get your money back, excluding any state fees. Most LLC services don’t offer refunds or, at most, a 30-day refund policy.
ZenBusiness Alternatives and How They Compare
ZenBusiness vs. Northwest Registered Agent
ZenBusiness offers more services than Northwest Registered Agent and beats it out, in our books, in most areas. However, Northwest Registered Agent does prevail in the area in its name—registered agent services. The business was founded on offering this service option and does it really well while also keeping the costs lower than ZenBusiness. ZenBusiness, though, offers a free (plus state fees) option for forming your business.
ZenBusiness vs. Incfile
While ZenBusiness wins this comparison when looking at customer reviews and customer support, Incfile is a very good service provider that is more affordable in a number of ways. It never charges anything but state filing fees to form your LLC, and it typically processes your order within one business day. It also includes registered agent services for one year and it’s more affordable than ZenBusiness after that. ZenBusiness does offer a 60-day money-back guarantee though.
ZenBusiness vs. LegalZoom
ZenBusiness offers more services for business operations, but LegalZoom ties in legal advice if that is important to you. LegalZoom is one of the few registered agent services more expensive than ZenBusiness, and it doesn’t offer a straight money-back guarantee. ZenBusiness is more affordable for add-on services.
Who Is ZenBusiness Best For?
ZenBusiness is the best LLC service for any business. Although there’s no free plan, there’s a price point that will work for almost any budget when starting a business. The service is easy to use and there are multiple add-on services you can choose to make a plan that fits your needs.
ZenBusiness is typically not a fit for those who are trying to pinch their pennies wherever they can. Even if you go with the free (plus state fees) formation service, you’ll end up paying for add-ons such as obtaining an EIN or getting a registered agent. The more services you need, the more ZenBusiness either becomes a more favorable choice or less of one.
If you need more formation-related services, then it gets expensive, but if you need business operations services such as creating a website, then it becomes the clear front-runner. If you’re looking for an affordable and convenient way to form an LLC, ZenBusiness is an ideal pick.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is ZenBusiness good for LLC services?
ZenBusiness is a great option for LLC formation services. This is the bread and butter of what ZenBusiness offers, and it has built a number of services around that option. You also get a money-back guarantee and can add on whatever services you need à la carte. Its customer support and customer satisfaction both score very high as well.
Is ZenBusiness a good registered agent?
ZenBusiness offers registered agent services but the offering is expensive compared to more seasoned service providers. Its service is good enough for most businesses if you want to keep everything under one house, though.
How much does ZenBusiness cost?
The cost of ZenBusiness depends on the services you’re wanting. For a basic LLC formation, you could be charged as little as $0 plus state filing fees or as much as $299 if you want to include things such as a business website and domain name.
How long does ZenBusiness take?
To process your request for an LLC formation, the length of time depends on what package you’re paying for. It could take anywhere from one day to three weeks to process plus the time it takes at your state’s office to process your registration application.
Do I have to renew my ZenBusiness plan annually?
Depending on the service you receive, your ZenBusiness service can renew automatically. Tasks that must be done over and over again, such as registered agent services, renew each year while others are one-time costs that occur when you form the business.
What is worry-free annual compliance?
ZenBusiness offers an annual compliance service that audits your business formation documents to assess what you need to do to maintain good standing with your state. It also alerts you of when it’s time for you to file again, so you don’t miss any deadlines and incur penalties or added fees.
What is the difference between an LLC and a corporation?
The owners of a corporation are called “shareholders,” while the owners of a limited liability company, or LLC, are known as “members.” Corporations have a well-defined management, ownership and tax structure that make them suited to attracting outside investment. LLCs have a great deal of flexibility, making them a popular choice for small business owners.
What kind of tax flexibility does an LLC provide?
LLCs can be taxed as sole proprietorships, partnerships, C-corporations or S-corporations. This choice allows members of an LLC to minimize their tax burden.
How do I cancel my ZenBusiness account?
You can cancel your ZenBusiness account by either emailing the company or calling customer support during business hours.
